The Rest Is History Or So They Think
by Friends-are-Forever 101
Summary: Rod only dated Ricky because he thought it was making Nicky happy. Ricky turned out to be not so sweet. Rod would deal with it just to make Nicky happy. He would do anything for Nicky to make him happy. And if dealing with an abusive boyfriend would make him happy, he would do it. M for Mature themes such as self-harm and offensive language. Will be Nicky/Rod.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This story contains mentions of mature themes such as self-harm and homophobic language. These themes reflect none of my own opinions and are just part of a story. If you are uncomfortable with any of these themes, please do not read. **

Rod Robyns walked into Avenue Q Town High. It was his first year in high school and to say he was nervous was an understatement. Rod was never good with making friends. It wasn't because he was anti-social or mean, quite the opposite in fact. Rod was one of the kindest, most friendly people on the earth. The only reason he didn't have friends was because people didn't like him. For some strange reason, no matter how hard Rod tried to make friends, they just seemed to walk away before he could utter a simple 'hello'. No one ever wanted to give him a chance. If it wasn't bad enough that Rod couldn't make friends, it was even worse that others decided to pick on him. He was bullied quite often and stuffed into his locker or beaten in the bathroom. Rod often wondered what was wrong with him. What did he ever do to make everyone hate him so much? Rod thought maybe it was his clothes. He dressed on the formal side every day. Often times it would be a button down with nice trousers. What was wrong with being a little fancy? If he was going to be an investment banker, he had to dress the part one day so why not start now? Rod had started to hurt himself not long after the start of middle school. It started with just small things like punching walls to bruise up his knuckles, but then it progressed to dangerous things like cutting himself. He had numerous scars on his arms from his self-harm. It helped him get used to the hurting and it took his mind of the emotional pain. He never rolled up the sleeves on his button downs or everyone would just hurt him more. Rod hid his pain from everyone and treated everyone kindly. Maybe one day someone would see the pain behind his eyes and save him.

Rod walked to his new locker and put his books inside. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and sighed. He picked up his bright blue backpack and closed his locker. He turned and jumped as he was startles by three taller boys wearing football jerseys. He awkwardly readjusted his glasses,

"Hello gentlemen, can I help you with something?" Rod asked politely.

"Don't talk to me, fag!" the tallest snapped. Rod jumped at the tone.

"Now there's no need for hurtful words." Rod said calmly. Suddenly his small, fragile body was slammed into the locker. Rod winced at the pain flaring in his back. "Please don't do this!"

"Shut up! Listen here, gay, we don't want trash like you stinking up our school's hallways! So as a warning, you better stay out of our way and maybe we won't pound you every day." The leader threatened. Rod nodded quickly. The leader smirked and threw a punch into Rod's face. Rod fell to the side with a cry of pain. The jocks walked away laughing. Rod sat up with tears in his eyes. Why couldn't jerks like them leave him alone? What did he ever do to them? He wasn't even gay so why did they assume? Rod buried his face into his knees and sat there crying. All he asked of whatever god there is was to give him one friend, one true, reliable friend. Rod felt pain pounding around his eye from the punch. It was definitely going to leave a black eye. Rod felt a shadow cover him. He refused to look up just to get bullied again.

"Hey, ya know, it's gonna be kind of hard to talk to you if your face is covered up like that." A friendly voice said jokingly. Rod dared to look up from the sanctuary of his knees. He saw a friendly face with dark, messy hair and a goofy smile. He had a brown New York sweatshirt on and ripped up jeans. "You look sad, buddy, what's the matter?" he guy asked sincerely.

"Nothing," Rod said looking down again

"C'mon you can tell me." The boy encouraged as he sat next to Rod on the ground.

"I said nothing." Rod argued

"Don't get defensive I just want to talk to you." The boy said calmly

"Well I don't want to talk, so just say it already!" Rod ordered

"Say what?" the stranger asked confused

"Aren't you going to call me names like everyone else? Aren't you going to call me gay?" Rod asked egging the other boy on to start with the verbal abuse already.

"Gee, I wasn't going to say anything like that. I just wanted to talk to you since you looked so down." The boy said sheepishly. Rod looked at the boy with widened eyes. This boy was nothing like the rest. He didn't seem mean spirited at all, "I thought you could use a friend right about then, but if you want me to go…"

"No, no…" Rod started, "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to anyone talking to me without calling me names." Rod said apologetically.

"Oh, well, I wasn't going to call you names, but I wanted to tell you mine. My name's Nicky, Nicky Lipkin what about you." The boy names Nicky said with a hand open to shake.

"I'm Rod Robyns." Rod said as he shook Nicky's hand, "Thank you."

"No problem." Nicky said happily. There was a moment of quiet, "So…are you?"

"Am I what?" Rod asked

"Are you gay?" Nicky asked curiously

"What!" Rod squealed

"Well I was just wondering since you said people call you that!" Nicky defended.

"If you must know: no! No I'm not gay!" Rod said as he turned a bright red.

"Okay, I was just asking, so I knew!" Nicky said, "But you know, if you were gay, that'd be okay."

"But I'm not gay." Rod defended

"But if you were!" Nicky replied, "I'd like you anyway."

"You barely know me, Nicky." Rod said

"That doesn't mean I don't like you." Nicky said happily. Rod turned to look at Nicky with a confused glance, but Nicky's eyes filled with concern. "Hey, who did that to you?"

"Did what?" Rod asked turning his face back to hide the bruise again. Nicky gently took Rod's chin in his hand to turn his face so he could see the damage again.

"This! Who hit you?" Nicky asked concerned for his new friend's being.

"No one hit me!" Rod claimed weakly

"Obviously someone did!" Nicky said irritated at the one who had hit his poor, defenseless Rod.

"Don't worry about it." Rod said turning away once more. Nicky sighed in defeat.

"Well when you do feel like telling me, just go for it." Nicky said, "It isn't fair for people to get bullied."

"Thank you Nicky." Rod said

"Hmm, thanks for what?" Nicky asked confused

"For wanting to be my friend." Rod replied.

"No problem! You seem like nice guy, so let's hang out together more often!" Nicky said. He pulled Rod onto his feet and they started running to class, "We could go over to my place sometime! I have all the game systems! Or we could go see a movie, there's new one out! Or we could go to the arcade! There's so much we could do!" Rod almost laughed at Nicky's childlike excitement. Nicky's carefree attitude was almost cute. The two ran off into their class and the rest is history.

That was the first time Rod met Nicky. From that day on they were the best of buddies. Every once in a while they had their spats, but the two were inseparable. Throughout the rest of their high school careers Nicky and Rod stuck together. Nicky defended Rod from bullies and Rod helped Nicky with his homework. Through all those years, Nicky never found out about Rod's self-harm. Either Rod was too good at hiding it or Nicky was too oblivious. He had stopped after he met Nicky. All the scars he had were from years ago. So he only wished that he could forget that part of his life. Now they were living together as roommates and Rod was dating Ricky. Nicky was proud he did something good for Rod for once, but he slowly started to grow resentment for the clone and he had no idea why. Nicky didn't know that Rod was not happy with Ricky. Rod only dated Ricky because he thought it was making Nicky happy. Ricky turned out to be not so sweet. Rod would deal with it just to make Nicky happy. He would do anything for Nicky to make him happy. And if dealing with an abusive boyfriend would make him happy, he would do it.


	2. Chapter 2

Rod hardly had time for Nicky anymore. Between Ricky and his job, Rod was exhausted. Nicky often waited all day for Rod to come home only for the man to fall right asleep. Nicky could see Rod was always tired, but he missed the good days when they hung out all the time; the days before Ricky showed up. Nicky usually stayed up a few hours after Rod stumbled home and went to bed. Nicky would often find Rod collapsed on his bed above the covers and his business clothes still on. Rod usually didn't have the strength to even change. Nicky always tucked the man back in bed so he was more comfortable. Yes, it sounded like a Rod thing to do, but Nicky was Rod's best friend and Rod would do the same for him. Nicky missed spending time with Rod. Ricky was always taking up his spare time. Nicky was starting to wish that he had never hooked them up. But Rod said he was happy with Ricky, so Nicky wouldn't take away something that was making Rod so happy. Nicky would do anything for his best friend. Despite wanting what was best for his friend, Nicky still wanted some time with Rod again. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a decent conversation with Rod. All Nicky was asking for now was a day to spend with Rod without any interruptions from Ricky. Luckily for Nicky, tomorrow would be Saturday and Rod didn't have work, so maybe they could hang out again like they used to.

The next morning, Rod woke up in pain like he did every morning. He forced himself to sit up, despite his body's cry for him to stop. If he didn't wake up early like he always did, Nicky might suspect something. Sure, Nicky wasn't always that attentive, but if he was up before Rod he definitely know something was wrong. Rod still had his clothes on from last night. He sighed and reached for his glasses. Nicky must have taken them off for him again. Rod felt his heart almost skip a beat at the act of kindness from his best friend. Truth is, Rod might actually like Nicky in _that_ way just a bit, but he had long since given up on him because of the huge barrier known as sexual orientation that separated them. Rod quickly chose an outfit and silently crept to the bathroom to change. He slowly undid the buttons on his shirt to reveal the bruises and cuts. Ricky had gone easy on him this time. Rod had to look away from the mirror before he started crying. Nicky might hear him if he did. Rod wanted nothing more than to just run away from it all, but running away meant no Nicky. Rod forced his gaze towards the wall and changed into his fresh clothes. He neatly cleaned up and fixed a small breakfast for himself. It was so quiet in the mornings, but it was a nice break from his life. It meant time to just relax instead of begging for mercy or hiding from his best friend. Rod sat down to read one of his books to wait for Nicky to finally get up. Usually it took until at least noon for Nicky to roll out of bed, but today was apparently special. Nicky as up and awake at about nine and dressed and eating a few minutes later. Nicky happily approached Rod with a wide smile.

"Good morning, Rod! How are you, buddy!" Nicky asked ecstatically. Rod sighed,

"I'm fine, Nicky. Isn't it a bit early for you to be up already?" Rod asked, not looking up from the book. Nicky shrugged in response,

"Yeah, but I wanted to ask you something important." Nicky started. Rod felt his heart jump at this,

"What is it?" He asked not trying to sound excited.

"Do you wanna hang out today?" Nicky asked. Rod felt his heart deflate a tad, but Nicky still wanted him around so it wasn't all bad.

"What's so important about that?" Rod asked masking his excitement.

"I just thought that since you've been spending so much time with Ricky, we could hang out together for once. Sometimes I miss the good ol' days when it was just us pals and no one else." Nicky admitted, _'Especially that stupid Ricky.'_ He thought as he tried to hide how much he hoped Rod would say yes.

'_Believe me, I do too.'_ Rod thought to himself, "I don't know, Nicky, I'm not really feeling up to anything today." Rod didn't want to reject Nicky, but he was still in a lot of pain from the previous night. Nicky felt panicked, he really wanted to spend time with Rod.

"Well, we don't have to do anything too crazy, Rod! We could go to one of those museums you like or…or we could do a movie or something….anything you want buddy!" Nicky said trying not to sound desperate. He was willing to do anything, even walk through a dusty, old museum just to spend time with Rod. Rod wanted to smile. If Nicky was willing to go to the museum just for him, Rod knew that the other man really did want to be around him. Nicky had never been one for learning when you don't need to, thus the museum was just about his least favorite place to be.

"If you really want to…there is a new movie I am interest in seeing." Rod suggested. At least the theatre would be dark so it wouldn't be hard to hide and he wouldn't have to move too much. Nicky jumped up with excitement.

"What movie?" he asked excitedly.

"Uh…the the new romantic comedy…you know the one I'm talking about, right?" Rod said.

"Oh uh…" Nicky knew exactly which one Rod was talking about. While he didn't want to see that movie, spending time with Rod was more important to him, "Yeah I know which one. I'll check the times and we can go!" Nicky ran out of the room to look through the paper to find the times. Rod chuckled at Nicky's childlike excitement. It was one of the endearing qualities to him.

Nicky and Rod sat in the theatre waiting for the movie to start. Rod had insisted on being early so they would have good seats and have some time to catch up. It was almost like they didn't live together anymore. They hardly knew about what was happening in each other's lives. Rod started to conversation,

"So, what have you been up to? I've just been so busy, I'm curious." Rod asked

"Well, uh, the usually I guess. I'm playing video games, watching TV, and I'm still looking for a job." Nicky said. Saying this aloud made Nicky cringe on the inside. He really needed to find a job. That way maybe Rod wouldn't have to work so hard. "What about you? What have you and Rick been up to?" Ricky's name fell off of Nicky's tongue like poison. Rod paled, but the lighting in the theatre hid this easily.

"N-nothing much, just…you know….typical boyfriend stuff." Rod said nervously

"You were pretty tuckered out last night; sure you guys didn't do anything?" Nicky asked curiously.

"I'm sure, Nicky; it was just a long day at work." Rod snapped.

"Well, gee, Rod, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stick my nose in your business. I was just wondering because I hardly see you two together." Nicky said rubbing the back of his neck, "I just wanted to be sure you're still happy with him, you know."

"I know…I'm sorry I snapped. I guess I'm still a little tired." Rod apologized

"I get it." Nicky said with a goofy smile. Rod adored that smile. Nicky gave Rod a friendly punch on the shoulder, but Rod recoiled violently. Pain shot through Rod's shoulder as he bit back a cry. Tears pricked at his eyes, but he held them back. Nicky immediately sensed that he did something wrong, "Rod, buddy, are you okay? Did I hit you too hard? I'm sorry!" Nicky didn't really hit Rod that hard, but there was a huge bruise where Ricky had thrown a bottle at him the previous night. Rod took a moment until he could trust his voice not to crack from pain.

"It's okay, you didn't mean it. I'm just a bit sore because I think I pulled a muscle or something." Rod lied. He detested lying to Nicky, but it was only to protect him.

"Are you that bad? Should we go home? I can get ice for you? Where does it hurt the worst?" Nicky asked. He never wanted his Rod to be hurt or in pain if he could prevent it. Ever since the day they met in high school, Nicky promised not to hurt Rod and only protect him.

"Nicky, calm down, it's nothing you do. I just need to rest it that's all. It's probably from sleeping on it wrong." Rod lied once again. Nicky reluctantly let it go. He noticed that Rod held his shoulder in a gentle grasp as if to cradle it after breaking it. The movie started before he could ask any more questions. Nicky turned to watch the movie as did Rod. Rod was so focused on pretending, he didn't notice Nicky's concerned eyes glancing at him every few minutes.


End file.
